U.S. Supreme Court
May 15, 2013
Litigating against human rights abuses
The Supreme Court has restricted the ability of victim of human rights violations occurring in foreign countries to sue in federal courts, but it has not completely closed the door on such litigation. By Erwin Chemerinsky
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).
The Supreme Court has restricted the ability of victim of human rights violations occurring in foreign countries to sue in federal courts, but it has not completely closed the door on such litigation. In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, 133 S.Ct. 1659 (April 17, 2013), the court limited the ability of federal courts to hear suits under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). But quite importantly, Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion...
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